It is customary to evaluate various aroma-emitting solid substances by sniffing the aroma and making a judgement as to its quality. The evaluation can often be used to help establish the quality of the substance and whether it meets certain specifications. For example, the evaluation of agriculture products, especially grains and oil seeds, is important because it helps establish the quality, or grade, of such products in commerce. This enables the purchaser of the product to negotiate a fair price for any given grade of agricultural product, in consideration with other market forces. A major aspect to overall grading of agricultural products, such as grains and oil seeds, involves the evaluation of the aroma associated with the substance. The aroma of the grain or oil seed is typically evaluated for malodors which indicate such things as contamination by microorganisms, fumigants, insects, or any other agent which would degrade the grain or oil seed. Fumigant odors are typically picked-up in warehouse storage where fumigants are used to protect the grain and oil seed from pests. Other odors can be derived from shipping containers contaminated by the previous cargo.
The evaluation of aroma of agricultural grain and oil seed is presently done by an inspector placing his or her nose into a 3-cornered pan containing about 2 to 3 inches of grain or oil seed. When the inspector sniffs the aroma, it is often accompanied by undesirable and potentially harmful substances, such as dust, mold, spores, biotoxins, fungus, and comminuted grain particles. While some attempts have been made to improve on this technique, they have not met with widespread acceptance, primarily because they have been less effective for evaluating the aroma than the above conventional method. For example, a device know as the "Cargill Sniffer" was developed for evaluating aroma from substances such as grains and oil seeds. The "Cargill Sniffer" consists of a nose-cup on the end of a plastic tube about 6 to 9 inches long. The tube is placed in the grain and the inspector places his or her nose in the nose-cup and sniffs. The "Cargill Sniffer" proved to be too ineffective for accurate evaluation of grain aroma because it was difficult for the inspector to sniff enough aroma, in acceptable concentrations, to make accurate multiple evaluations, especially with respect to quantitative aspects. That is, multiple evaluations as to whether a particular odor encompassed in the overall aroma was weak, moderate, or strong.
Consequently, there still exists a need in the art for a device for the uniform evaluation of aroma from aroma-emitting substances, such as grains and oil seeds, which is capable of enabling the operative, or evaluator, to make a quantitative, as well as a qualitative judgement. There is also a need in the art for a device which can deliver an aroma sample substantially free of potentially harmful substances.